Featured Applied Women's Studies Students

Keeonna Harris, M.A. in Applied Women's Studies

Keeonna Harris is currently in the Applied Women's Studies Program at Claremont Graduate University. She completed her undergraduate degree in Sociology with a minor in Women's Studies and graduated with the honor of Outstanding Undergraduate in 2009 from California State University San Bernardino. Her experience in the McNair Scholars Program as an undergraduate combined with her personal experience in dealing with the prison system has fueled her interest in conducting research about the mass incarceration of women of color. Keeonna is currently conducting research on a formerly incarcerated woman and the barriers that she is currently facing because of her incarcerated status and examining how that will affect her life chances. In addition to her academic endeavors, she has been actively involved in community efforts that have encouraged the empowerment of women. She founded and was president of "Future Feminists of America" at California State University San Bernardino. She has volunteered at A New Way of Life Reentry Project this past summer; which is a non-profit organization that helps formerly incarcerated women transition back into the community and aides women in breaking the cycle of entrapment from the criminal justice system. This summer she will be interning for the District Attorney of San Bernardino County. She will be assigned to the gang division, specifically working with women and girls and she will be assisting the district attorneys prepare for trial. Her commitment to trying to make a change in a world that has not fully tried to understand the needs of women of color; has prompted her to start filming a documentary which will explore how the criminal justice system has targeted women of color which has led to the mass incarceration of women. These activities bring together her academic and activism together a dream fulfilled!